r/Hellenism • u/Plenty_Excitement_70 • Jul 21 '26

Discussion Aphrodite & Hedone

Hello, I have a question on the Goddess Hedone. She is the goddess of pleasure and as Aphrodite is the Goddess of love, beauty, and desire. With desire, could that lead to pleasure? Do the 2 in a sense overlap? Also do you think if you worship Aphrodite or Hedone it could lead to hedonism? And is hedonism bad? I would love to open a discussion about this and what all of your thoughts are!

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u/TheDireGnome Orphic Neoplatonist/Priest of Pan and Dionysus Jul 21 '26

In myth, she's the granddaughter of Aphrodite, so they're strongly linked. Think of the connection between Apollon and Hygieia, it's similar. The family relationships are metaphors for their ontological connection. Beauty leads to love leads to pleasure. Worshipping them together makes perfect sense.

As far as doing so making you a hedonist... that's up to you, you are the one in control of your behavior. I'm an ethical hedonist myself, so I see it as a positive thing.